1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a management server configured to execute processing for dispatching a service engineer by processing image forming apparatus information acquired by communicating with a plurality of image forming apparatuses and also relates to an image forming apparatus configured to communicate with the management server.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional image forming apparatus, such as a printing apparatus or a copying machine, detects an error occurring on the image forming apparatus itself and notifies information about the detected error to the management server. The management server analyzes whether it is necessary to dispatch a service engineer based on the notified information. Furthermore, if it is determined as a result of the analysis that it is necessary to dispatch a service engineer, then the conventional image forming apparatus transmits necessary information to the image forming apparatus (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-24830).
The conventional analysis like this is always executed by the management server. On the other hand, an analysis for predicting a failure or an error occurring on an image forming apparatus based on operation information and failure information that has been transmitted from a plurality of image forming apparatuses and stored in the management server is executed on the empirical basis and is not always executed.
However, in the above-described conventional method, the management server is subjected to a high processing load in making a prediction of a failure of an image forming apparatus based on an analysis of the stored information. Accordingly, it is difficult to always execute the error predicting analysis. Furthermore, in the case where a service engineer has been dispatched based on a result of the failure prediction executed based on the above-described stored information, if it is actually found that the image forming apparatus may normally operate for a while (that is, the predicted failure may not occur soon), then the costs for dispatching the service engineer may become wasteful.
In addition, the above-described conventional method cannot efficiently analyze whether it is necessary to dispatch a service engineer with respect to another image forming apparatus belonging to the same group as that of the image forming apparatus on which an error has occurred (e.g., an image forming apparatus installed in the same installation location (room) as that of the error-occurring image forming apparatus of the same customer).
Under these circumstances, it is significantly useful and strongly desired by a company that uses an image forming apparatus installed at its business site and another company that provides a service to such a company to reduce maintenance costs including time and money for maintenance. In addition, it is strongly desired by the above-described companies that the dispatch of a service engineer is efficiently executed.